Various machines have been developed for the purpose of paying out, measuring and cutting predetermined lengths of carpet and other sheet material from a large roll, measuring the sheet material, cutting the sheet material in a shorter length and rolling up the cut length for delivery to a customer. The prior art devices have included a spiral roll-up assembly, a conveyor system for moving the sheet material along its length from a supply toward the spiral roll-up assembly, a measuring system for measuring the sheet material as it is moved along its length toward the roll-up assembly, and a cutter for cutting the sheet material after a predetermined length has been accumulated in the spiral roll.
One of the problems in the prior art roll-up assemblies has been that the sheet material that is being rolled up into a spiral roll is not tightly rolled, so that a substantial amount of slack is formed in the roll. A spiral roll of sheet material with slack in the roll is likely to become wrinkled in the subsequent handling and storage of the material, the roll of material is more difficult to handle, the roll of material is more likely to become damaged when being handled, and the loosely wound roll usually takes up more room in shipment and storage.